Peanut arrived at the Delta Animal Shelter in Michigan last April with two broken legs, a belly full of carpet, and broken ribs.

Peanut’s former owner has been convicted of animal abuse and Peanut has healed. She also got a new chance at life and has a “great new home with a wonderful family”, according to the shelter.

Now, a year later, Peanut’s the one doing the rescuing.

Delta Animal Shelter saved Peanut’s amazing act of heroism on their Facebook page after receiving the following letter on Mar 20, 2017 from her family:

Photo: Delta Animal Shelter / Facebook

“Dear Shelter,

I must share a heartfelt story about how wonderful our little Peanut has been! She has truly been a blessing to our family and we love having her around. As you know, her background was so heartbreaking and we are so happy that we were able to take her into our home and give her the love and the family she deserves. However, I think she still has some “sixth sense” about her past life that she has carried with her.

Today, Peanut was responsible for saving the life of a 3 year old little girl. About 11am this morning, Peanut started going crazy at our house. She was running up and down the stairs, barking and yelping.

She then went and got my husband, who was in the garage working on some projects, and alerted him that she wanted to go outside. He said he could hear her running around upstairs but didn’t understand why. He let her outside where she went barreling into the field behind our house at full speed.

My husband followed her and to his surprise, he found a naked, shivering, 3 year old girl curled up in a ball. He scooped her up, wrapped her in his sweatshirt, and brought her inside. He called 911 and reported the incident. By the time the ambulance and police arrived, the little girl could only say one thing – “doggie.”

Thanks to Peanut, a little girls life was saved today. She has been such a blessing to us, and now to others. Words cannot express how grateful we are that we have Peanut in our lives and how amazing she is.

She is a part of our family now and thanks to wonderful people like you at the shelter, she is alive. Without her, not only would she have been gone from this world, but the life of this little girl might have been taken as well.”

Michigan’s Delta County Sherrif’s Office confirmed the family’s story in a news statement on Monday, crediting the canine for alerting his owner to the child’s presence.

“Further investigation unveiled unsafe and unsanitary living conditions at the residence,” the sheriff’s office reported. “Child Protective Services was contacted and the found girl along with another young female were eventually removed from the residence.”

“Through all of this sad news, give thanks the children are safe,” the Delta Animal Shelter wrote in a post on Tuesday. “The good in this heartbreaking story is the heroism of this former abused shelter dog Peanut, and her wonderful adoptive family.”